Living Her Best Life: Diane Keaton Is an Expert at Ignoring Useless Advice
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In our new series Living Their Best Life, Oprah Daily sits down with notable names to find out exactly that—from how they maximize each moment to the daily rituals that keep them grounded. Here, Diane Keaton shares how her mother influenced her personal style and why some advice is worth ignoring.
Body-switching films are a dime a dozen in Hollywood (e.g. Big and Freaky Friday), but if anyone can breathe new life into the concept, it's Diane Keaton. The Oscar-winning actress has more than 70 acting credits to her legendary name—from Annie Hall and The Godfather to The First Wives Club and Something's Gotta Give—but says she feels most connected to the character in her latest film, Mack & Rita, which hit theaters last week. “Of all [the] characters [I’ve played] ... I think Rita is closer to being me than any of them. I really do,” Keaton tells Oprah Daily.
In Mack & Rita, Keaton plays Aunt Rita, the 70-year-old relative of a 30-something author turned influencer named Mack. After a wild bachelorette party, Mack, played by Elizabeth Lail, wakes up as Keaton and is forced to pose as Aunt Rita until she can figure out how to undo the body switch.
In honor of her new role, Keaton is sharing the advice she'd give to her younger self, what inspires her now, and her secret to never feeling stuck in one place for too long.
Her Style Inspiration
My style comes from my mother. We would go to the Goodwill and buy old clothes—this is when I was around 10 or so—because we didn’t have enough money to go out and buy a lot of clothes from Buffums, one of those fancy, rich [department] stores back in the day or anything like that. I would say, “Mom, can’t I wear this thing?” So we would come home and redesign [the clothes]. She would get her McCall’s [sewing machine] and make new skirts for me. And she let me do it with her, instead of [me] just saying, “Okay, whatever you say.” She would change them and make them really interesting for me because I was interested. She would let me have ideas.
Her Biggest Muse
My sister, Dorrie, is everything to me. She’s who I have left, basically, in my family, and it means so much to me. She’s free-spirited, interesting, unique—very visual. Her free spirit is really from Mom. Actually, we both got it from Mom. I’m looking at Mom’s picture right now. She had one of those great noses. It’s the most beautiful nose.
Her Advice to Her 30-Year-Old Self
I wish that when I was 30, I wasn’t so scared. I wish that I’d been more forthcoming and told people what I thought about things, or engaged with people in a manner that wasn’t hard to feel comfortable with. We all get in our own way in some form or another.
Her Rules for Taking (and Leaving) Advice
I try to plow ahead and not pay attention to the advice that I should have paid attention to. When I get advice, I’m like, Okay, see you later! Thanks for that! But sometimes advice really helps. So much. It depends on who it’s coming from. Who are the people you trust to actually hear it from, and engage yourself about something you might need to work on?
Her Words to Live By
Enjoy love. Just go forward.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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